Atheism = No Spiritual Dimensions To Reality?

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

It's not so much "against" as "lack of". You can also be "against" but it isn't necessary. It is defined by theism in the same way that "gentile" is defined by Judaism. Before Judaism, everyone was gentile, but there was no need for a word for it. "Gentile" isn't a worldview or a belief system, and neither is "atheist".

I think that's a bad analogy for the theist/atheist comparison. Gentile is a label for an out group, not an in-group appellation. The atheists I know label themselves such, while no gentile I know uses that label unless referring to themselves from a Jewish perspective.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

I think that's a bad analogy for the theist/atheist comparison. Gentile is a label for an out group, not an in-group appellation. The atheists I know label themselves such, while no gentile I know uses that label unless referring to themselves from a Jewish perspective.

There would be no need to refer to oneself as an atheist except from a religious perspective. If not for religion, there would be no need for the word atheist. It would just be the way things are.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

There would be no need to refer to oneself as an atheist except from a religious perspective. If not for religion, there would be no need for the word atheist. It would just be the way things are.

That's true, but I think it denies the importance of the social aspects of the issue. There's a big difference between labeling oneself and being labeled by others. Which might be a tangential point in this conversation.

[Ruminator]

"might be"... :p and not the first, but we all know threads go various places in their evolution.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by Ruminator

"might be"... :p and not the first, but we all know threads go various places in their evolution.

"So you do believe in evolution," HJL advanced.